TO THE SOUTH

In the past, the ice and snow industry was concentrated in northern China, especially the three northeastern provinces. Nowadays, indoor and outdoor ice and snow sports in the south are more and more popular. Some companies smell opportunities.

Guangzhou Dexin Sport Goods Co.,LTD is one of them. The sales person in the Expo told Xinhua that at the beginning, the company just produced ordinary glasses. However, with the opening of snow court in Guangzhou, more and more citizens began to demand snow goggles. They developed snow goggles ten years ago and at that time, most production went abroad. But now, there is a huge focus on domestic sales.

Finnish brand Reima specializes in children's winter suits. "We opened the first store in Beijing a few years ago, and then expanded to nearly 30 in Xi'an, Jinan, Shanghai and other places. More and more children, especially children in southern China, take part in ice and snow sports in winter camp," said Pan Qiting, the marketing manager of Reima Trading Beijing.

OPEN AND SUSTAINABLE

Themed "more internationalization, more specialization and more popularization," this year's WWSE is aimed at providing a platform for China and other countries to deepen cooperation in the ice and snow industry, Zhang Li, the vice president of IDG China, one organizer of the Expo, said.

In the exhibition, a dry toilet which can withstand low temperature attracts attention. Its ecological design makes it a fit for the upcoming Olympics site in Zhangjiakou.

"We cooperated with a French company Sanisphere and put their technology into practice in China. And we also made the product more suitable for Chinese's customers," said Sun Xin, project director of China Fishery Crony (Beijing) Leisure Culture Industry Development Co. , LTD.

"Sports is an important enabler of sustainable development. We think we can work with China to make a green Olympics," Mikko Salonen,an official of the Finnish Olympic Committee said.

"As sustainability is one of the main themes of the upcoming 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Games, I see many future opportunities for long-term cooperation between our nations," Hanna Kosonen,the Minister of Science and Culture in Finland said.

Winter sports are also becoming more popular on campuses.

Sales and marketing manager of Finnish Snowboard Association, Jaakko Aro gave a presentation about "Kids on board" project.

"I hoped to introduce this project to China's schools. It's a safe and fun way to explore snowboarding indoors with the tools that have been specially developed. It's suitable for everyone including kids with disabilities," Aro said.

This year has been dubbed the China and Finland Sports year. Kisakallio school from Finland has already found a Chinese partner and promote dry land ice hockey in more than 20 primary and secondary schools in Dongcheng District of Beijing.

"The Games is approaching and it's a good opportunity for development of ice and snow industry in China. And the more important thing is the legacy of the Games. The facilities will remain and these are potentials. The Games will train professional coaches and educate professional officials,"Jan Dijkema said.

China's skiing industry will be in a period of rapid development in the next decade.

By 2030, China's skiing industry is expected to become the world's largest skiing market.